Notes:The meeting of the Council of foreign ministers of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will be held in Beijing, China on April 24, 2018. The Indian delegation will be represented by Union External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. Ms Swaraj is on 6-day visit to China and Mongolia. These are the first SCO meetings after India and Pakistan were admitted into the 8-member group in which China and Russia play an influential role. The foreign ministers meeting is part of the preparations of the SCO summit scheduled in June 2018 that will also be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Qingdao.

2. Tim Bergling, who passed away recently, was the noted dance music star of which country?

Notes:Tim Bergling (28), who is one of the world’s biggest dance music stars, has passed away in Muscat, Oman on April 21, 2018. He is popularly known as DJ Avicii. He was a Swedish musician, DJ, remixer and record producer. His club anthems include Wake Me Up, Levels, and recently, Lonely Together with Rita Ora.

Notes:The World Earth Day (WED) is celebrated every year on April 22 worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection. The day was proposed at the UNESCO conference in 1969 and the first Earth Day celebrations took place in 1970. The person credited for organising the event 48 years ago is US Senator Gaylord Nelson. The 2018 campaign theme ‘End Plastic Pollution’ will provide the information and inspiration needed to fundamentally change human attitude and behavior about plastics. . The idea is to encourage people to cut down on their plastic consumption by paying a closer attention to the number of plastic items each person consumes annually and make a conscious effort to reduce the amount. According to a paper published in scientific journal Chemistry & Biology in 2009, plastic is non-biodegradable and disposed plastic can remain in the environment for up to 2,000 years.

4. Nabi Tajima, the world’s oldest person has passed away. She belonged to which country?

Notes:Nabi Tajima (117), the world’s oldest Japanese supercentenarian, has passed away in Kikai, Japan on April 21, 2018. She was born on August 4, 1900, and reportedly had more than 160 descendants, including great-great-great grandchildren. She was the last living person certified to have been born in the nineteenth century. Tajima became the world’s oldest person 7 months ago after the death of Violet Brown in Jamaica, also at the age of 117.

5. Which football team has won the 2018 Indian Super Cup Football tournament?

Notes:Bengaluru FC has won the first edition of Indian Super Cup Football tournament on April 20, 2018. In the final at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, they defeated Kolkata football giants East Bengal by a convincing margin of 4-1. The competition is sponsored by Hero MotoCorp and is officially known as the Hero Super Cup.

6. Who will become the first-ever Indian Filmmaker in Madame Tussauds Collection?

Notes:Karan Johar has become the first-ever Bollywood filmmaker to get a place at the famous Madame Tussauds. The process has begun in London and it will take about six months for the wax figurine to be ready. Some of his noted works include ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’, ‘My Name Is Khan’, ‘Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani’, ‘Agneepath’, ‘Wake Up Sid’, and ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’. Apart from Johar, other Indian dignitaries who have been graced with the honour are Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Anil Kapoor, Sachin Tendulkar, Katrina Kaif, PM Narendra Modi, Hrithik Roshan, Madhuri Dixit, Prabhas and Varun Dhawan.

7. T V R Shenoy, who passed away recently, was the veteran personality from which field?

Notes:TVR Shenoy, the veteran journalist and columnist, has passed away in Karnataka on April 17, 2018. He will be remembered for his deeper analysis and narrative style writing in his illustrious career as a newsman that spanned around five decades. In his lifetime, Shenoy contributed to numerous national and international newspapers, magazines on a wide range of issues through his writing. Shenoy was a regular contributor to The Indian Express among various newspapers which included Mathrabhumi, Gulf News among others. He was also the editor of The Week and was an executive member of Prasar Bharati. He has been doing freelance journalism for over two decades. Shenoy was awarded the prestigious Padma Bhushan award in 2003.

8. Which of the following has been declared the official mascot of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019?

Notes:The Chinese dragon ‘Son of Dreams’ has been declared the official mascot of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China. This is no ordinary Chinese dragon, but one that is magic, full of wisdom, persistence and strength. Son of Dream, who is holding a basketball, is fit, energetic and wears high tops to pay homage to China’s greatest ever player, Yao Ming. Son of Dream has horns that symbolize the hope that the eyes of the world will be on China when the FIBA Basketball World Cup is staged. The tournament will take place in 8 Chinese cities from August 31 until September 15.

Notes:Daniel Ricciardo, an Australian racing driver who is currently competing in Formula One for Red Bull Racing, has won the 2018 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix tournament at the Shanghai International Circuit in Shanghai, China. The race was the third round of the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship and marked the fifteenth time that the Chinese Grand Prix has been run as a round of the Formula One World Championship.

10. Who has been conferred with the All India Management Association’s (AIMA’s) annual award for lifetime contribution to media?

Notes:Indu Jain, chairman of Bennett, Coleman & Co, has been conferred with the All India Management Association’s (AIMA’s) annual award for lifetime contribution to media oon April 18, 2018. AIMA honours achievers who created a fundamental difference to society through its annual Managing India Awards. It has honoured Indu Jain for managing the Times Group and for establishing the Times Foundation. Indu Jain also received the Padma Bhushan in 2016. She launched the Times Foundation in 2000 to carry out community services, research foundation, and relief funds.